Nice wheels and a good idea on the wires! 

Also, glad you liked Apollo 11.

I ordered this to paint Gordo. Its a primer for bumpers, it says its ideal vinyl and plastic.

We will see.

Excelent job painting the wheels.

For various reasons progress is slow. I did manage to paint the wheels this weekend. The rubber is painted with Tamiya black lightened some using Tamiya white. The rims are painted with Alcad aluminum over a basecoat of black. The pieces themselves are resin. The kit provides both resin and plastic. The resin has flatted bottoms and the plastic do not. I went with the resin.

The wires are more than just holders for painting. They will anchor the model to the desert scape. I will drill holes through the base and glue the wires from below. It is recommended that weights are added to the model in order keep the model standing on all three wheels. In my case, I already knew how I would anchor it, and I didn't bother with the weights.

I am still waiting on the replacement decals. That is probably still several weeks off. There is plenty more I can do until then.

Lastly--I did see Apollo 11 last week and it was excellent. I will buy the movie on disc when it is released.

End of update

Yah the fins are critical as you say, and the kit vac formed fins are hard to work with.

I used resin fins from Modin the oldies, but I'm not sure they are still available.

The kit fins are oversized to make the rocket stable, and the resin ones are a even bigger.

Your build is looking very nice! Clean work on the wraps.

This is mine, it flew once and turned in a good flight.

The 5 engine cluster:

Make sure its CG is is good, If I remember correctly it should balance close to the 1st stage point with the motor and recovery wadding in place.

I had a little time this weekend to work on the Saturn.  Installing the fins. Each fin takes a few hours to trim, adjust, trim, align, trim, and finally glue.  This is going to be a flying model to alignment it crucial.  

Not a lot Mach71? That looks fantastic!!! 

Sorry not much progress again, having one of those weeks...

Mach71> Nice work!  It's going to be a great addition to your collection. 

I haven't got much to report myself.  The parachute system on top of the Command Module is painted, and I'm slowly fashioning a new nose cone.  If I can get that done, I can finish up the CM and begin final launch procedures...

Gary

Excellent!

Not a lot to report. I started the 1st cut at detailing the panel.

I heard Satchquatch worked on the white team GUIDO desk, so he/she/it should know!

GAF

 

 

mach71

It was so well done that during the launch of the Saturn V I caught myself thinking 

"Boy the special effects are spot on" only to realize this was the real deal! No hollywood magic, just real science.

 

 

 

Oh, come on!  Everyone knows it was all faked! 

Gary

 

It was real!!! Last time I was in IHOP I bumped into Elvis and Satchquatch and they both comfirmed the moon landing was true!!! 

mach71

It was so well done that during the launch of the Saturn V I caught myself thinking 

"Boy the special effects are spot on" only to realize this was the real deal! No hollywood magic, just real science.

Oh, come on!  Everyone knows it was all faked! 

Gary

I usually stay far away from theaters also, but I really wanted to see this on the big screen. IMAX would have been even better, but it was not available where I was.

One thing that really impressed me about the movie is that it was crafted as a movie and not a documentary. I know that sounds odd, but for me it's an important point.

No interviews were included, no scripting, just actual NASA footage and audio to tell the epic story. The filmmaker cleverly used Walter Cronkite's reporting to fill in the details.

It was so well done that during the launch of the Saturn V I caught myself thinking 

"Boy the special effects are spot on" only to realize this was the real deal! No hollywood magic, just real science.

Gary: Blad to hear you're feeling better.

That movie sounds great, probably won't play around here but I'll look around.

Thanks! Sinus is better, but no progress on my side either.  Maybe I can get something done today.

No, I haven't seen "Apollo 11" yet, but hope to next week.  It's not showing anywhere close, so a 1 hour drive is my only recourse.

And don't worry about spoilers!  Did the astronauts make it back okay?  

Gary 

No, I'll wait till I can see it at home. I try to stay away from large confined crowds, especially during flu season. Looks good though.

You can spoil it for me though. Did they land OK? 

No progress today on my Mercury, I'm on the road for work.

But I did get to see Apollo 11 today. Sadly it was not IMAX, but still a 

very impressive film. It took me back to 1969 again. 

Anyone else see it yet?

I don't want to post any spoilers. ;-)

Mach71: Oh wow!!!

Gary: Ouch, hope you're feeling better soon. 

Very cool, Mach. 

Thanks everyone. there is a lot more wireing that could be done but there is a point of diminishing returns where the work won't really get seen.

Overall I'm very happy with the look.

Sorry to hear you are not feeling well Gary.

Well done Mach, it going to be impressive. 

Mach71> Really nice!  Glad someone is making progress!  I just screwed up the paint job on the engine nozzle for the Service Module and am beating my head against the wall for not waiting longer until I was sure it was dry! 

Add to that I have a sinus infection and the left side of my face is swollen, so I'm about ready to call it a day...

Gary

That is going to an impressive instrument display.  

Wow! I'm learning lots about dioramas! That will come in handy when i'm building a base for my "Lost in Space" robot.

I finally have something to report. I've been stuck on what to do with my instrument panel. I'm still not sure if I'll light it, but i resolved to make some major progress on it today.

I started adding detail to the back of the panel.

It's mostly fiber optics  bundled together with some other wires thrown in for some visual difference.

I have a bit of room to bring the FO out the back if I want to light it. There are decals for the instrument faces, I'll have to do some tests to see how much light comes through.

AS you can see, the back of the panel is very visable.

Some dry fitting, this will be a huge kit once its done!

I have some time off at the end of this month into next month, hopefully I can make some good progress. 

Lol, guys!

Using the cheap 99 cent paint I never had much of an issue of it soaking in. It is more think and gooey than standard hobby paint so that might make a difference. I just use 2-3 layers to make sure I get every nook and cranny. And then use a thinned coat of darker craft paint to settle down into the recesses. It helps a lot in something like tank tread and car tire ruts, maybe not as much for a simple flat base.

Then I just paint some white glue like Elmer's over the areas I want grass. Sprinkle on the static grass and turn it upside down to remove the excess. Blow on it a little to make it stand up and remove any more excess.

Giving you jazz bro... messin with cha, you know me by now. It shows a good use for something I hadn't thought of.

Next time though, strap some solid boosters to that thing before posting. 

I think Gam has posted a model of the rare "V2 PanzerWagen".  They installed two V2 engines in the back of a King Tiger for speed.  Unfortunately, they tended to be more dangerous to the crew than any allied armor (unless it happened to hit one).  It may have held the land-speed record up until 1945... 

All photos are welcome here (unless they're cat videos). 

As for the paint, I was curious if the putty kinda absorbed the paint, or it would lay on the surface.

Gary

Nice job on those, Gam. I like both but I really like the second one.

modelcrazy

 What kind of spacecraft is that???

 

Sorry, the only time I've used Durham's Water Putty for dioramas is armour.

If it's an issue I'll delete the photos...

 What kind of spacecraft is that???